Dina Parise – From Ice Capades to Hairdresser to Drag Racer

Teresa Aquila, a renowned mechanic, columnist, teacher and a producer of an auto repair video for woman. Her mechanical career has spanned 41 years working on everything from Porsches to Heavy Equipment to including classic vehicles which she owns several and has personally restored in a world dominated by men.

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Dina Parise grew up in Long Island, New York and always wanted to hang out with the boys; not because she wanted to date them, but wanted to compete against them. Her first love was hockey, but her mother put her foot down and said, No Way!

She was always competitive, from eight years old until she was in her 20s when a friend approached her and advised her that she should try out for the Ice Capades auditions. Dina put in her application. One of the questions was how tall you were, since the requirement was at least five foot five inches. Dina, who was five foot one inch, had to tell a little white lie and wrote on the application that she was five foot five inches.

The auditions all happened within a day or two, and they notified you pretty quickly after your tryout. Dina was chosen to go on tour, and the first tour was the 50th anniversary of the Ice Capades, which lasted eight months.

Before the tour began, all skaters had to undergo off-ice skating with choreography. There were so many steps and counts the skaters needed to learn and remember in order to prepare for the tour. She traveled all around the United States and into Canada for four years, performing line skating and ensemble skating.

After four years with the Ice Capades, Dina decided to hang up her skates and go back to hairdressing. Not long after she stopped skating, her husband Andrew decided to get involved with cars. Around 2005, Andrew built his first car, a 1967 Camaro. At first he wanted to show it at car shows, then it progressed to race car, and it ended up being a fully tubbed machine.

That lasted for about a year or so when Dina fell in love with Drag Racing. Never having been to a drag race, Dina decided that she wanted to drive the ’67 Camaro. She decided to become a drag racer, so she enrolled in the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School, earned her Super Drag Racing License, and began racing the Camaro.

Being a beginner, her husband thought that going Top Sportsman was the first choice, but Dina chimed in and stated that she was thinking more in the line of Pro Mod. Andrew about passed out when he heard that, and Dina about had to pick him up off the ground. Dina and Andrew put their heads together and began working on the marketing strategy. The rest is history.

Today, Dina drives a Modified Cadillac, with 3000 Horse power, which will have its first race on April 17, 2015 at IHRA Nitro Jam Southern Nationals in – Bradenton, Florida.